Breaking Point
by Insane Anarchist-aka Allie
Summary: Everybody has a breaking point. Will they pull through it, and still emerge as they once were?
1. Fearful Realization

**_Hey everyone!! Yay I got something out for you all to read! Don't ask what I had to go through to get this document out of the depths of my computer, just be happy there's something for you to read while I'm getting chapter nine in _Transformers: The Secret _rewritten! So anyway, happy reading, and reviews are much appreciated!_**

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_News Flash: new evidence has been found on the Clarke family murder. New suspects have arisen, and are currently being questioned._

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Madison Clarke scoffed. _New evidence…yeah right. It's not like after three whole years, they're gonna find who killed…_ She quickly cut off the train of thought as a tear formed in her eye. She wasn't about to cry, not here, not ever. The death of her parents, and her little sister had just been too much for the sixteen-year-old. At the time, she had refused to do anything, simply sat in her room, depressed. To this day, she could still remember the accident that killed her family. All of it so vividly, except what had done it. In her mind she could replay the crash over and over again, feel the terrible pain of the glass, like thousands of fire ants, she could hear her sister scream, see the ground tumbling before her, but could not see what had caused it. It almost broke her fragile heart to be unable to know who had killed her family, with nobody left to help her remember. _God…I have to stop thinking about this._ Another tear came up in her eye, but she didn't bother to wipe it away. Instead, she looked down at her wrist, at the pencil-thin scar that ran completely around. The scar came not from the accident, but from a time when her father had been working on building a wooden house for her and Marina, her little sister, to play in. Madison had tried to help with the electric saw, and had gained the scar from the rotating blade. She was lucky to have not lost her hand. Since then, she had always worn shirts that exposed it. That was one of the two things she always did; the other was wear the beautiful emerald necklace her mother had given her on her seventh birthday, to match her eyes. The hues matched perfectly, down to the marbled swirls that patterned both.

A knock on Madison's door startled her. "Come in," she called, trying not to let her sadness come out in her voice. She didn't want to bother her foster mother, Catherine Harley. Catherine was so kind, but she simply wasn't Madison's mother.

"I just wanted to let you know, you're going to school tomorrow. Tranquility High, ok?" The woman walked in, standing just inside. She bore a kind smile on her face, and Madison tried to smile as well.

"Sure, guess it was time for me to get back in 'the swing of things,'" she quoted her mother. The young woman touched her necklace gently, remembering. Catherine nodded, and left, pausing only to say, "I've gotten all your school books and such, but I know you have enough pencils, drawing all the time as you do!" Her eyes strayed to Madison's desk, where all her drawings were stashed. She then walked out, pulling the door to as she left.

Madison rushed over to her oaken desk, and yanked out the drawer. She pulled out her latest drawing, a sketch of a strange car. She knew there was writing on the side, but she simply couldn't figure out what they were. This was the car that had been coming up in Madison's dreams. A terrible, onyx-black car, with white doors. That was all she knew of it, because she could see no more. The car scared her, so much that she woke up in a sweat after seeing it in her dreams-no, nightmares. Madison pulled out a pencil, and started on the front again. Out of the little stick flowed a real-life car, one that seemed to jump out of the page. Madison saw it coming, through a glass pane, coming terribly fast, then she felt pain, horrible, racking pain… A piercing scream left her lips, and she toppled to the ground, unconscious.

Madison awoke in bed, underneath the soft, enveloping comfort of her blankets. Catherine was sitting on a chair, wringing her hands anxiously. She cried, upon seeing Madison awake, "Oh God…Madison! You scared us!"

"I'm sorry, I just…" She didn't have the heart to say what had really happened. Luckily, Catherine understood. "Well, now that you're awake," she continued, "I'll go down and make some soup." She got up quickly, and left. Madison swung her legs out of bed, and climbed out. Her drawing of the car was still where it had been, but her pencil was on the floor. She picked it up, and walked over to the window. Looking out, she saw a car: a strikingly familiar car. Madison reeled away from the window, clutching at her heart. _No…it can't be!_ She picked up the drawing with shaking fingers, and walked back over to the window.

It was confirmed: the car was the exact car Madison had drawn. The word 'police' was stenciled in bold on the sides, and the strange motto 'to punish and enslave' was showing clearly against the onyx black. The girl uttered a strangled cry, but kept her scream in. She forced the blackness out of her eyes, and watched the car. She felt as if her nightmares had been brought into reality, for this was the very car that had caused the deaths of her parents and sister! Madison's hands shook violently, and she dropped the paper.

It was at that moment, as the sheet was fluttering down to the ground, that Catherine walked in with the soup, stopping dead when she saw her white-as-a-sheet foster daughter staring out the window. "Hon, maybe you shouldn't go to school tomorrow, what with all this excitement!" She took Madison's hand, and saw the tears, each a glittering diamond, falling silently down her cheeks. The young woman stuttered, "It…it _killed _them…all this time, it's been outside my window…" She blinked the tears away, banishing them from her eyes. "No…I'll go tomorrow…I'm fine, really!" she cried encouragingly, perhaps a little too much so. Catherine's eyes were very skeptic, but she took the girl's answer.

That night, lying in bed, a new face came into Madison's head. At first, it seemed harsh, but after studying it closer, she found it was quite nice, and a good change from the terrible black-and-white car. She had seen it somewhere, but she just couldn't place it. After a good bit more studying, Madison decided it was at the accident. _Yes…that's where I saw him…he was there, talking to the paramedics…but he's metal. Why would a metal man be talking to paramedics?_ The question finally woke her up, and she got up out of bed. Judging by the glowing clock on her nightstand, she had about an hour before it was time to get up. Just enough time for a really good drawing. Madison brought out a fresh sheet of drawing paper, and a pencil, and began to draw the face she had seen. The lines seemed to come out of her mind of their own accord, with her hand simply a channel for energy. The drawing took form, slowly showing the metal man from her dream. A colour popped into her head, a green, and she took out her huge 100 coloured pencil set to find the right ones. She set about colouring the face, with varying hues of green and grey, and finally finished. Leaving her trance-like state, Madison realized that she had been drawing in near-total darkness. The fact was astonishing, but not totally strange to the young woman. This sort of thing had happened before, when she had started her drawing of the car.

The alarm went off, coming out full-volume with 'Keep Holding On' by Avril Lavigne. She rushed over and turned it off, wanting silence. Madison quietly pulled out her clothes, a pair of dark jeans, and a bright blue t-shirt with little hearts patterned on it, and put them on. She slipped her feet into some black flat sandals with a small green flower adorning them, and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When Madison went downstairs, she knew Catherine wouldn't be up, an unspoken agreement as the school was only a block and a half away. Not bothering to eat, and not wanting to, the young woman walked outside, feeling the crisp morning air prick her nostrils. The black-and-white car was still there, and she rushed away, down the sidewalk. It was too much for her to stay around. _Calm down…just focus on getting to school, that's the best thing._ Madison took several deep breaths, calming herself down.


	2. First Day of School

_**Hey all, this is the 2**__**nd**__** chapter of Breaking Point, dug out of the depths of my computer, and it took me almost a half hour of searching! Just so you all have something to read while I'm working on getting the chapters for you in **_**Transformers: The Secret**_**!! Be thankful you have something to read from me, because I have no idea when I'll have the other chapters up! Lol, anyway, just letting you all know, I'm doing my best to get that chapter up! Reviews for this AND the others are much appreciated!! Hugs to all my readers!

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The high school was already bustling, even this early in the morning. Madison took a deep breath, and walked onto the grass. A teen was eyeing her, checking her out, then wolf-whistled, and called her over. "Hey, Strawberry! Come on over here, k?" She closed her emerald eyes, then turned to the annoying boy. She put on a sweet smile, and waltzed over to him, careful not to be provocative.

"Yeah?" She rested her hands on her hips, and took a defiant stance.

"I was just wondering, what's a hot gal such as yourself doing here, all alone?" He draped an arm around her shoulders, grinning in a very annoying way. Madison was troubled by his actions, and literally threw his arm off, nearly shouting, "Get away, jerk! Why would I want to associate with a stuck-up, spoiled, rich-boy, with a perfect life?!" He just reached towards her again. "Hey, Trent's not gonna hurtcha…unless you _want_ me to, that is." He winked provocatively, coming forward. The young woman backed up, now frightened. Suddenly, a brunette stepped in between her and the advancing Trent.

"Hey, leave her alone! Can't you just get it in your head to leave girls alone that don't want you?" She stepped forward, and he jerked back, saying, "Hey, Mikaela, calm down! I was just-" She took another step. "No, you were leaving!" Trent ran off, along with his cronies, and the girl turned to Madison. "Hey, sorry about Trent. And on your first day here. He's a real jerk, ya know? I'm Mikaela Banes. C'mon, let's go inside."

Madison was a little shaken by the events of now and last night, but still nodded, accepting the young woman's offer. "My name's Madison Clarke. Thanks for helping me," she said, smiling. "You know," she continued, "This is the first time I've been to a school in about two years! It feels so strange to be here again." She looked at the lockers and classrooms, in almost a daze.

Her new friend shook her arm. "Why not? Was it homeschooling?" Then, seeing the look on Madison's face, Mikaela amended, "It's ok, of you don't wanna talk about it…" The other girl just shook her head, and said, "No, I'll tell you. Ever heard of the Clarke family murder?" She paused as Mikaela nodded, then continued, "Well, that was my family. So I've been out of school, moving around, until I ended up here." She gave a sad smile. "And now I see this weird police car in my nightmares, it's the one who caused the accident, and then it shows up on my street. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to go on like that…"

Mikaela just shook her head. "It's ok…this car, it wasn't a S281 Extreme Mustang, was it?" Her voice was strange, high-pitched. When Madison nodded, she went pale.

"Mikaela? What's wrong?!" It was her turn to shake her friend. Mikaela whispered, "I-I know that car…oh God I know that car…where's Sam when you need him?!" She turned, and marched out of the building, Madison in her heels. The two emerged just as a bright yellow Camaro with black racing stripes pulled up. Mikaela rushed forward, and basically yanked the boy inside out of the car. The Camaro seemed to give a little shake, and Madison wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not.

"Sam! He's back, we gotta tell Optimus about this!" Sam winced, and said, "Kae? There's a girl staring at us." Mikaela whipped around, and waved her friend forward, introducing her. "This is Madison, and this annoying idiot is Sam, my boyfriend." Madison's eyes switched from the somewhat nerdy-looking boy Sam, and the very pretty Mikaela.

"Erm….you two…how?" she managed to get out. Sam looked at a loss for words, but Mikaela said, "We'll explain later, I-God what is he _doing_ here?!" Her voice became hysterical as she saw the huge black GMC Topkick pull up. Mikaela ran over, and started talking with the man inside, who gave her a harsh look. Madison came closer, and heard their conversation.

"Ironhide! This could-is-serious! Barricade's back, he killed her family! You have to tell Optimus, Bee has patrol duty today! And what on Earth are you doing here anyway?!" Madison came forward, and said quietly, "You're talking about that car. The one who killed my family. I deserve to know what's going on." The look on her face was enough to soften even the tough weapons' specialist's spark. The look on his hologram's face softened a little, and he said, "Look, this is dangerous information, and you shouldn't hear it-"

Mikaela interrupted, "Until Optimus says you can. Look, Ironhide, please ask Optimus. I'll know if you didn't." She glared at him. The two were in a glaring contest, until suddenly, the bell rang. Sam grabbed Mikaela and Madison, and hauled them away, grunting, "Put you two together, and all there_ is_ is trouble!"

At lunch, the three went outside, heatedly discussing the upcoming test, and the obnoxiously boring subject it was on, when Sam spotted a familiar Camaro sitting on the road, with a young man sitting inside, staring rather pointedly at him. "Hopefully he'll have news from Optimus." The threesome walked over, and the young man spoke before there was a chance for any questions to be asked. "Optimus says it's ok to let Madison know, but he wants you all to come to HQ, after school. Can you?" he asked, a nervous look on his face. Mikaela gave the young man a funny look, and said, "I think so. Do you know why?"

Suddenly, a scream came from behind them. The man disappeared, and Madison added a small squeak of terror to the cries. An ethereal voice came from the Camaro. "It's alright. My name's Bumblebee. I'm a friend, promise," he said softly, trying to be comforting. The young woman put a gentle hand on his side, and smiled. Her mouth formed his name, and Bumblebee gave a little shake, startling her momentarily, then she nodded, and turned to the school. Students were running around, chased by a strange silver maniac.

Sam cursed under his breath. "Frenzy! Bee, now would be a very good time to transform!" he cried, pounding the car. Mikaela grabbed Madison's hand, backing away slowly. Madison pulled her hand free, and hissed, "What _is_ that thing?!" The brunette said, "That would be Frenzy. Decepticon, pretty nasty, all things considered."

"All things considered?" queried Madison, a knowing look in her eye, despite the screams of terrified students.

Mikaela looked down sheepishly. "Yeah…there's worse, like-oh God! Bumblebee! Please, get over it, and _transform_!" she screamed. Madison was just about to ask what she meant when a harsh, grating, metallic sound came from behind her. She whirled around, to find a yellow-and-black bipedal mechanical creature standing behind her. So, she did the only logical thing: she screamed.

Bumblebee knelt down, and spoke again. "Shhh…it's alright, there there, calm down. It's just Bumblebee." He touched Madison's arm gently, and she stopped her screams. The young woman blinked in astonishment at the mech, then whispered, "Bumblebee? So…you were the car then, huh?"

Sam interrupted his guardian's reply. "Bee! Go get Frenzy!" The yellow Camaro nodded, and took off after the small bot. It seemed as though everything would be fine: after all, it was only little Frenzy.

Then, Madison saw an all-to-familiar Mustang police car drive itself up. She backed up, and fell onto her hindquarters. The young woman found her voice then, and cried out, only to be silenced by a cold metal hand around her throat. She looked up, into glowing red optics. The black creature smiled with an evil satisfaction.

"You…I remember you. It seems I have a little vendetta with you." His voice was cold, unforgiving. Then, it all fit in Madison's head. She whispered with the breath that was still barely in her lungs, "It…it was you! You killed them!" She struggled violently, barely hearing Sam and Mikaela screaming for Bumblebee; all she heard was the roaring of her own anger in her ears. Despite all her struggles, the Decepticon refused to let go.

Barricade chuckled with a cold glee, "You should not struggle so much; it's not worth it." He looked up sharply as the black GMC Topkick from earlier came speeding down the road, yelling, "Barricade you Deceptiscum!" He transformed into his huge robot mode, cannons whirring into place, glowing menacingly. The scowl on his faceplate was enough to make anyone's blood run cold, but Barricade seemed unfazed.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Ironhide? After all, I have this little flesh creature, and we all know you will not kill one, softhearted as you are," he hissed, and stood up, dragging Madison with him, not caring that he was holding her by her neck. Ironhide glared furiously at the Decepticon, knowing he couldn't do anything to help. Madison squeaked in terror, but was silenced with a glare from Barricade.

Suddenly, the Decepticon was thrown to the side, and Madison found herself cradled gently against something warm, but hard. She looked up, and saw, to her astonishment, the face she had seen in her dreams, the one she had drawn in green last night. He was holding the young woman to his chest, and shooting with the other. Madison peeped out, and saw a retreating Barricade, Frenzy sticking his metal tongue out at the humans and Autobots.

The green Autobot lifted her up, examining her with a practiced optic. _She seems to be alright…a little shocked, perhaps, but definitely alright._ Madison clung to his hand, fearful of falling, and looked at him gratefully. He couldn't help but smile at her, and said, "My name is Ratchet. Are you alright?"

"I'm Madison, and I think I'm alright…"she trailed off, realizing she wasn't actually sure if she was alright or not. Ratchet brought her back down, holding Madison against his chestplate, hoping to comfort her. She snuggled against him, feeling his warmth calming her down. Surprised by her actions, Ratchet did the only thing that came to mind, and that was to stroke her gently. He had seen many a femme be calmed down by this, and it seemed to work with Madison.

Sam and Mikaela appeared, and the medicalbot hesitantly put the young woman down, earning a strange glance from her. Her mouth moved, forming the word 'thanks,' and Ratchet smiled, unable to control himself. Bumblebee was fussing over Sam and Mikaela, going around them, and making tsk-ing noises at the same time. Sam was trying to fend off the Autobot, and Mikaela was struggling not to laugh. Madison wasn't able to restrain herself, and burst out laughing. Bumblebee turned around, and gave her mock sad optics, making her laugh harder.

"Bumblebee, stop!" she gasped, tears now coming down her face. Mikaela wasn't able to stop herself from cracking up when Bumblebee snatched Sam up by the ankle, holding him upside down, turning him this way and that, while the boy screamed at his guardian to let him down, and now. Finally, Bumblebee decided Sam was alright, and put him down.

Madison stopped laughing, and looked down the street, off towards where Barricade and Frenzy had gone. She thought she saw Barricade again, and jumped. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and found Ratchet there, smiling kindly at her. She smiled back, then looked off down the street. "I thought…I thought I saw that Barricade again, but I guess I didn't."

"You didn't. I followed his progress, he's long gone, not coming back here for a while, I assure you," he said, then turned back to the school. High schoolers were now emerging from hiding places, picking themselves off the ground, and of course, looking around for Frenzy and Barricade. Their wandering eyes were slowly settling on the Autobots, and Ironhide gave the order to transform before the dazed teens could register what they had seen.

Ratchet hesitated to transform, then decisively turned back to Madison. He gently put a finger under her chin, and examined her neck. He scanned her neck, looking for any serious injuries. There weren't any major ones, there would be bruising, and the muscles were somewhat strained, but otherwise she was fine. "Your neck is alright, however, when you come by later, I want you to come to the medbay, just in case something shows up between now and then," he said, in a very serious tone, taking his finger away. The young woman nodded, then smiled as she heard Ironhide honking his horn. Ratchet smiled back, transformed, and followed the other Autobots, turning to follow Ironhide when Bumblebee turned off down a side street, to continue his patrol.


End file.
